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Tuesday, 21 May 2013

An 18-year-old Indian-American girl has invented a super-capacitor
device that could potentially charge a cellphone in less than 20
seconds.

Eesha Khare from Saratoga in California was awarded the Young
Scientist Award by the Intel Foundation after developing the tiny
device that fits inside mobile phone batteries that could allow them
to charge within 20-30 seconds.

The so-called super-capacitor, a gizmo that can pack a lot of energy
into a tiny space, charges quickly and holds its charge for a long
time, NBC News reported.

Ms Khare has been awarded USD 50,000 for developing the tiny device.
She has also attracted the attention of tech giant Google for her
potentially revolutionary invention.

According to the teenager, her device can last for 10,000
charge-recharge cycles, compared to 1,000 cycles for conventional
rechargeable batteries.

"My cellphone battery always dies," she said, when asked about what
inspired her to work on the energy-storage technology.

Super-capacitors allowed her to focus on her interest in nanochemistry
- "really working at the nanoscale to make significant advances in
many different fields."

The gadget has, so far, only been tested on an LED light, but the good
news is that it has a good chance of working successfully in other
devices, like mobile phones, the report said.